Caregiver self-efficacy and reading difficulties (Davison et al., 2024)

Purpose: Emerging literature suggests caregiver self-efficacy is an important factor related to caregivers’ shared reading practices with their children. Reduced shared reading has been documented among families of caregiver(s) with language-based learning disabilities (LBLD). Yet, it remains unclear whether caregivers’ history of language and reading difficulties is associated with caregiver self-efficacy. The purpose of this study was to examine whether self-efficacy in language- and reading-related caregiver activities related to caregiver history of language and reading difficulties and shared reading practices.

Method: One hundred seventy-six caregivers of children aged 18–60 months completed a custom self-efficacy in language- and reading-related caregiver activities questionnaire, as well as demographic, history of language and reading difficulties (used both as a continuous measure and to dichotomize caregivers with and without LBLD history), and shared reading measures in a one-time survey.

Results: Caregivers with a history of LBLD reported an overall lower self-efficacy and a reduced amount of time reading with their children per week than caregivers without LBLD history. Examining caregiver history of language and reading difficulties continuously across the whole group, self-efficacy mediated the relationship between caregiver difficulties and shared reading practices, even when caregiver education was incorporated as an additional mediator in models.

Conclusions: Findings indicate that self-efficacy and caregiver education mediate the relationship between caregiver history of language and reading difficulties and shared reading practices. Consideration of self-efficacy by clinicians and educators is warranted when promoting shared reading practices to caregivers of young children. There is a need for future research to examine relationships between self-efficacy and shared reading among caregivers with LBLD of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

Supplemental Material S1. Survey items and response scoring.

Supplemental Material S2. Bivariate associations between key variables among caregivers with a history of LBLD (n = 58).

Supplemental Material S3. Bivariate associations between key variables among caregivers without a history of LBLD (n = 118).

Supplemental Material S4. Caregivers of children.

Davison, K. E., Ronderos, J., Gomez, S., Boucher, A. R., & Zuk, J. (2024). Caregiver self-efficacy in relation to caregivers’ history of language and reading difficulties and children’s shared reading experiences. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 55(3), 853–869. https://doi.org/10.1044/2024_LSHSS-23-00067